The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
dir. David Fincher
Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård
4 out of 5 Stars
David Fincher's last film, the near-masterpiece The Social Network (check out my review here), set a bar that sadly, this film fails to clear. The man is certainly capable of directing amazing films (and he has, many times), and his visual style and directoral chops are still good as ever. Enter The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a film that is as well-paced and efficient as it is plodding and ineffective. For as much as the performances can be lauded, for as much a tragedy the film is for Rooney Mara's Lisbeth, and as intriguing the mystery the plot presents is, it suffers dramatically from over-predictability and a very drawn-out pace that, while understandable, is unnecessary. The problem with Girl stems most from the fact that this film couldn't decide what it wanted to be about, then sandwiched everything together, which tended to streamline things somewhat and dramatically- if jarringly- re-set the pace for the rest of the film. It represents a missed opportunity, as the film's title is ultimately where one looks for a focal point- sadly, the girl with the dragon tattoo is too infrequently on-screen and explored to make this a film about her. NOTE: Spoilers to follow.
The film begins with journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) who has recently been prosecuted for libel for printing unsubstantiated information regarding corporate CEO Hans-Erik Wennerström. He is approached by Henrik Vanger (excellent performance by Christopher Plummer) to write a biography of him, but more than that, is wanted for his investigative chops to help Henrik finally put to rest the disappearance/murder of his niece Harriet some 40 years earlier. Blomkvist agrees, and the investigation begins. Meanwhile, we're intercut with the story of Lisbeth Salander (Mara), a ward of the state whose guardian has had a stroke, and she is placed under a new guardian who keeps a very tight leash on the girl's finances.
Screenwriter Steven Zaillian has done a masterful job here in not making this very long, drawn-out exposition seem boring. The real issue with the pacing comes from the split stories of Blomkvist and Salander, who are inevitably destined to be brought together by the film (she is set up early-on as an amazing investigator). As an audience, we know that eventually the film is going to put these two together, but it takes forever in doing so (easily half of the 158 minute runtime, if not more). Again- the exposition wasn't boring, and indeed it was important for both Mara's character and the investigation, but one can't help but wonder if these two could have been put on-screen together a little bit sooner. Craig and Mara have great chemistry here and it's a shame to see it pushed to the latter portion of the film.
Similarly, the mystery itself avoids asking the question that immediately comes to mind the moment it presents itself: what if Harriet is still alive? Sadly this doesn't occur to anyone in the film until well after the 2 hour mark has passed, and it can be a little grating seeing the characters in the film continue to ignore this very real possibility. When, at the end of the film, one finally learns that this is indeed the case, it is more an eye-rolling "finally" kind of moment moreso than a great revelation or shock. Where she has been and how she survived are entertaining stories, to be sure, but they are revelations that were long overdue by this point in the film. It would have been more shocking to find out that she actually was killed, since, given the evidence the film presents, that would have been the more surprising conclusion.
What makes the story effective, really- and what ultimately keeps the film from being a snorefest- is Mara's character Salander. Having spent time pondering the film, it is the opinion of this reviewer that this film is better thought of as a tragedy with Salander as its central character, and this seems to be the intent of both Fincher and Zaillian as well. Mara is absolutely up to the task, infusing her character with so much anger, betrayal, isolation, and tenderness, that she feels absolutely and incredibly real. The film itself isn't really an Academy Award contender, but her performance is simply brilliant. Other characters in the film are ably played- from Plummer, to Stellan Skarsgård and the remainder of the cast. Craig is similarly well-played, with his lifeless performance- considering what has happened to the character, this is a wonderful choice by Craig in playing the character (he is very dispassionate and seems to have a blank glaze over his eyes throughout the film).
Another monumental bright spot is the return of Fincher collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who worked on The Social Network with Fincher and return here. They present a wonderfully atmospheric soundtrack that plays well with the film's pace and themes, and while the soundtrack may not be as masterful as that of The Social Network, this one certainly stands out as well.
Sadly there are a few things holding the film back from really moving from good to great, a fate suffered by other Fincher films as well (Zodiac and Benjamin Button come to mind). First is the lack of focus on Mara's character which really jars the pace early in the film. Her story is by far the more interesting of the two, but she is cut back to far too infrequently and when she is, her scenes don't last very long. Not to say these scenes aren't incredible- they make up some of the most incredible scenes in the film- but it cuts back continuously to the Vanger investigation, which is important to the inevitable climax, especially for Mara's character, but is a snooze by comparison. Credit must go to Fincher and Zaillian for making this at least bearable, as in less capable hands it might have been a complete disaster.
Also, issue must be taken with the opening and the ending of the film. The opening since it is drastically out of place- Fincher seems to be channeling himself when he did the Fight Club intro, as that is what this is most reminiscent of. It sets the wrong tone for the beginning of the film. The ending since it is largely unnecessary- we see Salander somehow entertaining the idea that she and Blomkvist will have this happy relationship together. Given her character to this point she'd have no inclination to believe that Blomkvist was interested in such a thing, and more than that, having her learn to be sociable and trusting of people doesn't immediately mean she has to settle into some relationship with him. The character could and should have learned these things regardless, but been realistic enough to know that this partnership was not going to continue. This was somewhat heavy-handedly shown to her instead, and it just wasn't necessary. Her tragedy is that she still has no one, even after finally finding a connection, but still she has actually formed one: this should be the film's greatest moment, and instead it basically sucker-punches her.
Overall, however, the film was very engaging. The performances and the nature of the Vanger mystery alone (and moreso, the stunning revelations of why Harriet vanished) make the film very entertaining, and the runtime doesn't hinder this at all. If more of that runtime had focused on Salander, this could easily have been rated higher, but instead, it stands at four stars out of five.
by Nicholas Haskins
Follow me on Twitter or book my face. You can check out the international trailer for Girl here. Also check out this review and others over at Black Entertainment USA. "You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world."
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